Andreea Rusu: The Connector

May 29, 2026

Guest: Andreea Rusu
Career: Marketing Manager
Based: Nomadic
Instagram: andreea.rrusu

Episode Description
Andreea Rusu was sad and depressed in her Bucharest flat in June 2021, post-COVID, with no money to travel. So she bought a one-way ticket to Spain, spent half a year researching on YouTube and Google, and discovered the World Packers platform. She applied to 40 volunteer opportunities, got accepted to 12, and ended up in Anceu, Galicia—a 100-person village in rural Spain—to do some Instagram marketing for a co-living space.

What was meant to be a one-month stay became five months, then extended to two and a half years of returning repeatedly. Because when she arrived, something shifted. On a date before the trip, someone had asked her, "Who are you?" and she could only answer, "I'm Andreea and I'm a video editor." At Anceu, surrounded by strangers who became family, she finally discovered the answer. She wasn't just a video editor. She was a community builder. A connector. Someone who made strangers feel like they belonged.

Now she's building a directory bridging two worlds: community builders looking for places to volunteer, and co-living spaces looking for community builders. She's experienced 15-plus co-livings, understood the power of genuine curiosity, learned that what you feel is valid even when you grew up in a conservative environment that told you to shut up, and realised that being a community builder is actually a full-time job in mental space—even if volunteering looks part-time. If you want to know everything about co-living, about finding yourself by helping others belong, about the personal development bootcamp that is community building, Andreea is your person.

Timestamps

00:00-00:37 Introduction by Ibi

00:37-02:00 Andreea's story intro, depressed in Bucharest, one-way ticket to Spain

02:00-03:00 Discovery of World Packers, applied to 40 opportunities

03:00-03:30 Anceu co-living, Galicia, rural village

03:30-04:20 First month experience

04:20-05:30 Marketing volunteer role discovering co-living concept

05:30-06:50 Applied to 40 opportunities, accepted to 12, found Anceu

06:50-08:15 Stayed one month, emerged as community builder

08:15-09:30 The date question "Who are you?" identity crisis as video editor

09:30-10:30 InsideOut project by J.R., rural revival cause

10:30-12:00 Using InsideOut as excuse to stay longer

12:00-13:00 Two types of communities, online and offline

13:00-14:30 Building community in tiny 100-person village

14:30-15:00 Trust people, don't guide them through everything

15:00-15:45 Conservative upbringing, fear of speaking openly

15:45-16:30 Learning from others' stories, discovering multifaceted self

16:30-17:00 "What you feel is valid"—psychologist moment

17:00-18:30 Control freak lesson at team dinner, learning to trust

18:30-20:00 Lived there on and off, one year nonstop

20:00-21:30 Community expanded from co-living to village to neighbouring villages

21:30-23:00 Personal development bootcamp aspects

23:00-24:30 Permission to fail, observer role, awareness of impact

24:30-25:30 Friends around the world, friendships built through co-living

25:30-26:30 Material benefits, no rent, maintaining freedom

26:30-27:00 Meeting partner at Anceu

27:00-28:00 Been in 15+ co-livings, understanding different spaces

28:00-28:30 Current work in Belgium and building community for builders

28:30-29:55 Creating directory of co-living opportunities

29:55-30:30 Bridging community builders with co-living operators

30:30-31:45 Personal development benefits of volunteering

31:45-32:15 Observer role and impact awareness

32:15-33:00 Making friends worldwide, global network

33:00-33:30 Materialistic benefits, no rent expenses

33:30-34:30 Career development trade-offs, full-time mental space

34:30-35:45 Volunteered for 2.5 years, then stopped to process insights

35:45-36:20 Can you do both, job and volunteering?

36:20-38:30 Advice: doesn't depend on career stage, depends on values

38:30-39:10 Genuine care, nurturing vibe, can switch brain to others

39:10-39:45 Closing, thank you

About This Podcast
Real conversations with successful digital nomads who've built sustainable location-independent income. Strategic insights on how they transitioned, what income streams they built, and what they wish they'd known earlier. No travel tips or lifestyle fluff.

Host
Ibi Malik helps ambitious professionals transition to nomadic careers without income sacrifice.

To watch the video follow this link: https://youtu.be/jo-hT8Yy9ZQ

Follow for weekly episodes featuring professionals who've successfully built nomadic income streams.

Episode length: ~40 minutes

Published: 29th May 2026
Episode #14

The Connector Who Found Herself by Helping Others Belong

I'm sitting in a French castle talking to someone who spent a total of two and a half years living in a 100-person village in rural Spain, not visiting or passing through, but actually living there as the person who helped strangers feel like they belonged. Andreea Rusu has this incredible energy about her when she talks about community building, this genuine warmth that makes you understand immediately why she's good at what she does.

She didn't plan any of it. June 2021, she was sad and depressed in her Bucharest flat, and one day she just bought a one-way ticket to Spain because staying felt worse than leaving. She couldn't afford traditional travel, so she did what so many of us do when we're desperate to change our lives: she spent half a year Googling and watching YouTube videos until she discovered World Packers and the concept of volunteering in exchange for accommodation.

"I applied to 40 opportunities like just, you know, random to see what clicks or not. I was, I had zero expectations. And out of these 40 opportunities, I got accepted to 12 of them. And I was like, really? People can offer you a free stay and pay utilities and other perks if you help them with a little bit of marketing."

The one that stood out was in Anceu, Galicia. The description mentioned digital nomads working on their projects during the day, doing dinners and hikes together in the evenings. What was meant to be a one-month stay ended up being five months, and she kept coming back for two and a half years after that.

What happened in those first weeks changed the entire trajectory of her life, though she didn't know it yet.

Who Are You?

There's this moment Andreea shares that explains everything about why co-living mattered so much to her. She was on a date once, and the guy asked her, "Who are you?" She answered the way most of us would: "Well, I'm Andreea and I'm a video editor."

He stopped her. "I don't care what you do for a job. Who are you as a person?"

She didn't know. "That question like struck me. I was like, who am I? Who am I? I don't know, who am I? I was, I knew somehow inside about my desires, my burning curiosities, but I didn't know who I am."

That question haunted her. She'd spent her whole life identifying with her profession, never thinking about who she actually was beneath the job title. When she arrived at that first co-living in Anceu, she wasn't just looking for a place to stay. She was looking for herself.

"I feel like I found my people, I found my world. I found myself first."

She went as a marketing volunteer, meant to help with Instagram promotion and blog posts. Simple stuff. But she found herself naturally gravitating toward something else. Every new person who walked through the door, she wanted to know their story. She'd sit with them for hours, genuinely curious about where they came from and what brought them there. She started engaging people in activities, bringing them together, and the community builder role just emerged from that curiosity.

"This is the job or the job, the role that came to me just because I was genuinely curious about people, I was engaging them in activities, I was like bringing them together."

One month turned into five through clever negotiation. She pitched an art project called InsideOut by French artist J.R., photographing local villagers to raise awareness about rural revival: the idea that rural areas can thrive when you connect nature, slow-paced living, and remote work infrastructure. The portraits would take a month to ship from France, and she'd paste them on walls around the village. "I use this as an excuse like, hey, I cannot leave now. I have to wait for my project to be finished."

It worked. And those projects started connecting the co-living community to the village itself. At first, locals were skeptical about all these strangers coming and going. But through rural revival and opening doors to invite villagers in, the community expanded. First to the village, then to neighbouring villages. Now it's spread across Galicia. The co-living wasn't isolated, it became part of the place.

Permission to Feel

The personal transformation went deeper than discovering a new skill. Andreea grew up in a conservative environment where you didn't talk openly about what you were thinking or feeling. You shut up, didn't complain, toughened up. She spent years building walls, always looking over her shoulder, never knowing if anyone would accept what she had to say.

Then one day she was crying, really struggling with something, and a psychologist from the community sat down with her. "She took my hands and looked at me and she said, like, Andreea, what you feel it's valid. It's real. Because I couldn't process what I'm thinking and what I'm feeling because I didn't allow it to to feel it first and to accept it."

That sentence broke something open. Nobody had ever told her that before. That her feelings mattered. That she didn't have to process everything alone first, toughen up, present a perfect version of herself. She could feel something, accept it, then process it. The permission to feel changed everything.

"I grew up in such an environment where you have to shut up, you have to do not complain, you toughen up. I had like these walls on me, always looking over my shoulder and not telling what I'm truly going through. And I didn't know who I am."

Co-living gave her that acceptance. She watched people talk with ease about topics she'd been afraid to touch. Their openness gave her courage. If they could speak freely about what they were thinking and feeling, maybe she could too. She started sharing more. People encouraged her, added to her stories, complimented her perspective. It created this beautiful loop where the more she shared, the deeper she could go, the more she discovered about herself.

Another moment: they were preparing a team dinner, five people cooking together. Andreea and another volunteer went to set up activities, leaving a guy to watch the food. She couldn't stop stressing. What if he forgets the potatoes in the oven? What if something burns? She was a control freak, couldn't enjoy the moment at all.

The other volunteer said, "Andreea, learn to let go. Trust people that they can handle it. You don't have to be their mother."

That lesson stuck. Trust people. They can handle things themselves. You don't have to control everything. Just have faith and relax. "I learned to to to relax, to be more at ease. It's okay with who you are. It's okay to trust people. It's you're safe here."

Through these experiences, through watching other people be themselves, she discovered she wasn't just Andreea the video editor. She was Andreea who loves cooking and teaching classes and playing board games and talking openly about things that matter. And if that guy from the date asked her now who she was, she'd have a real answer. She'd been all those things the whole time. She just needed space to let them surface.

The Trade-Off Nobody Warns You About

Here's what the glossy co-living marketing doesn't tell you: being a community builder is a full-time job disguised as part-time volunteering. Not full-time in hours. Full-time in mental space. When you're genuinely present in a community, when you're the person creating connection for others, you're never fully off.

Andreea did this for two and a half years, almost three. She lived at Anceu for one year nonstop, then kept coming back. She learned that curiosity is infectious, that when one person shares something with passion, everyone else gets curious too. She learned to perceive emotions, to listen deeply, to notice her impact on others.

But then she realised she needed to stop. She'd grown as much as she could in that role, needed time to process everything she'd learned, and needed to focus on her career.

"You cannot really have time to develop a career. When I do things, I am very much involved. I cannot, I am with my mind and my soul into something."

Some people treat their job as just a job with clear boundaries and easy disconnect. Andreea isn't wired that way. When she's in, she's fully in. Being a community builder and building a serious career simultaneously? Too much. She had to choose.

But here's the paradox: those years of volunteering opened doors her CV never could. The job she has now, marketing manager for a Belgian company converting 19th-century townhouses into shared living spaces, came through co-living connections. Her network exploded. Her perspectives expanded. She discovered opportunities she never would have found sitting in Bucharest scrolling LinkedIn. She also met her partner through co-living, and they now travel together instead of separately.

"I think this is something I want to let people know: once you go in co-living and you expose yourself, you get to enrich your perspectives and your network so much, your friends."

Expose yourself. That's the key. Not just show up, but genuinely put yourself out there. Be curious. Have conversations. Care about people's stories. The returns compound in ways you can't predict.

Building the Bridge

Now Andreea's building a community for community builders, a directory connecting people who want to volunteer with co-livings looking for help. She's bridging the two worlds because she's been in both positions.

I ask her: would you recommend this to someone established in their career, someone already making six figures in a traditional job?

"I don't think I can say that just a certain type of person can do it, depending on their career stage. Not at all. It more depends on your values. Like what do you want? What do you need? What do you love?"

The question isn't where you are professionally. It's whether you have genuine care for helping people have a good time, whether you can focus on others, whether you're willing to be fully present. If yes, the rest doesn't matter. The benefits are personal growth, friends worldwide, and permission to fail in a low-stakes environment. You become more aware of your impact. You learn to listen. You grow in ways books can't teach.

From Not Knowing to Knowing

Four years ago, Andreea couldn't answer who she was beyond her job title. She was depressed in Bucharest, not knowing what she was craving or how to find it. Now she's the person others come to for co-living advice. She's lived in 15-plus spaces, has friends scattered worldwide, works for a company she believes in, travels with a partner she met through this journey, and helps others follow similar paths.

The transformation required leaving everything familiar, volunteering for years without serious income, learning to fail publicly, accepting discomfort as growth. Co-living didn't give her answers. It gave her permission to ask the questions, to try things, to fail, to speak openly, to trust that what she feels is valid. To discover she's multifaceted, complex, capable of more than she imagined. And now, if someone asks her who she is, she knows exactly how to answer.

Andreea Rusu works as a marketing manager for a Belgian residential space whilst building a community for community builders.

Digital nomads and location-independent professionals featured on Ibi's Digital Nomad Stories podcast share insights into building sustainable remote careers. Listen to all episodes: www.ibimalik.com/podcasts/ibis-digital-nomad-stories

Episode Transcript

00:00:00:01 - 00:00:37:04
Ibi
Hello and welcome to IV's Digital Nomad Stories, featuring real conversations with professionals who have cracked the code to sustainable, nomadic lifestyles. These people aren't beach and Wi-Fi chasers. They're building competitive advantages that traditional employment could never match. Global mobility, income diversification, and the freedom to capitalize on opportunities anywhere. I'm Evie Malik, your favorite digital nomad consultant. And today I'm joined on the show by Andrea Russo, someone who proved that not knowing who you are is not a crisis.

00:00:37:05 - 00:01:05:04
Ibi
It's a good starting point. She was in her Bucharest flat in 2021. Bit sad because she couldn't afford to travel. She applied to 40 volunteer opportunities on world packers and landed in a 100 person village in rural Spain to do some Instagram posts for some co-living space. She stayed for two and a half years, not because of the free accommodation, because once someone on a date asked her who are you?

00:01:05:04 - 00:01:29:19
Ibi
And she couldn't give an answer beyond her job title. So in that tiny village in Galicia, in rural Spain, surrounded by strangers who had become family, she was finally able to figure it out. She wasn't just Andrea, the video editor, she was Andrea who builds community, who makes strangers feel like they belong, who connects co-living to the villages and the people around them.

00:01:29:20 - 00:01:56:03
Ibi
Now she's building a directory connecting future volunteers with the spaces that need them most. This is a masterclass in finding yourself by helping others belong. When you stop trying to figure out who you are and start being genuinely curious about everyone else. The answer will simply find you. Here's Andrea. Hello. Hello. How long have you been a nomad?

00:01:56:05 - 00:01:58:21
Andreea
Since June 2021.

00:01:58:23 - 00:01:59:17
Ibi
Covid?

00:01:59:20 - 00:02:01:14
Andreea
Yes. Post Covid.

00:02:01:16 - 00:02:04:20
Ibi
Post Covid. Why?

00:02:04:22 - 00:02:22:04
Andreea
Because I was sad and depressed in my apartment in Bucharest and I was like, what am I still doing here? And I purchased a one way flight ticket to Spain. And this is how I started my journey.

00:02:22:06 - 00:02:24:10
Ibi
Where in Spain?

00:02:24:12 - 00:02:29:00
Andreea
In Galicia. In living.

00:02:29:01 - 00:02:31:12
Ibi
I know lots of people that want to answer you.

00:02:31:13 - 00:02:35:12
Andreea
Yes, it's quite famous, right?

00:02:35:14 - 00:02:37:01
Ibi
Why?

00:02:37:03 - 00:03:06:14
Andreea
Well, because I think it was launched before all of these things appeared now in Europe. So it was among, let's say, the first ten, 15 ones. And because it's just a really, really great co-living space, the community is very strong there and people just love it. There are many, many people that go back there time and time again and then they spread the world.

00:03:06:15 - 00:03:12:00
Ibi
Interesting. And you know Meredith.

00:03:12:02 - 00:03:18:02
Andreea
Of course. Meredith. From here? Yes, actually, I met her in until last year. Really? Yeah.

00:03:18:04 - 00:03:23:21
Ibi
People always talk about this unsaleable living. And where did they tell me all about it? I really need to go and check it out.

00:03:24:02 - 00:03:24:18
Andreea
Yes.

00:03:24:22 - 00:03:30:08
Ibi
You should be one day. I never I never did a co-living in Spain. I only did in Tenerife.

00:03:30:10 - 00:03:31:07
Andreea
Which one.

00:03:31:08 - 00:03:34:23
Ibi
I intend roof. I did cactus co-living and I did Mariah co-living.

00:03:35:00 - 00:03:41:07
Andreea
I passed by Mariah. Yeah yeah yeah. They had a really cool pool there and a garden as well.

00:03:41:08 - 00:03:44:17
Ibi
I know I really loved working in that garden. It was so much fun.

00:03:44:18 - 00:03:45:04
Andreea
And there are.

00:03:45:04 - 00:03:57:19
Ibi
Three under a tree in a. Yeah. And I was like taking my clothes. Then the wifi was great and I was like, okay, this is a good life. This is a good life, Okay. And what do you do for work?

00:03:57:21 - 00:04:17:06
Andreea
Well, in the online world, I'm a marketeer. This is what I've been doing for the past eight years, and it's actually the career that allowed me to be free to be location independent. Yeah. And through this career, I discovered the living world through volunteering.

00:04:17:08 - 00:04:21:12
Ibi
And so when you went to answer the first time, you went as a volunteer, you went as a liver?

00:04:21:13 - 00:04:54:18
Andreea
No, as a volunteer. How I discovered the concept of co-living overall is by pure chance, because what I wanted was to travel and to discover the world. I had a thirst for exploration, but I couldn't afford it. And in Covid, I was depressed and alone, and I craved for something more. And that more was to to break out and to discover the world.

00:04:54:18 - 00:05:28:03
Andreea
But I couldn't afford it. And then this I spent maybe like half a year doing research online. Google and YouTube were my best friends because I didn't have no one near me that have done this before. And I got a lot of inspiration from vloggers and they said, that way you can travel the world is through volunteering. And on this platform, world Packers, you can find all of these opportunities all around the world, and you can filter them by the skills you would like to contribute with.

00:05:28:04 - 00:05:55:08
Andreea
And the ones that I selected were marketing once, and then I applied to 40 opportunities like just, you know, random to see what clicks or not. I was I had zero expectations. And out of this 40 opportunities, I got accepted to 12 of them. And I was like, really? People can offer you a free stay and pay utilities and other perks if you help them with a little bit of marketing.

00:05:55:08 - 00:06:24:22
Andreea
And yeah, you don't have to pay for for the rent. And out of this 12 opportunities, the one that stood out the most was on sale in Spain, because the description says something like help us with promotion on Instagram, writing blog posts about what we are doing here. We are a group of digital nomads, remote workers, freelancers, entrepreneurs that work on their projects and in the evening or in the weekends.

00:06:24:22 - 00:06:47:06
Andreea
In the free time, we do dinners together, hikes, games, activities. And I say like, what is such a cool concept? And I applied to stay for a month and here I am five years later, like I never stopped, but I didn't know. The concept of co-living for me was was a pure magic magic discovery.

00:06:47:08 - 00:06:50:00
Ibi
How did you feel in that first month in.

00:06:50:02 - 00:07:19:20
Andreea
My God? Oh, I feel like I found my people. I found my world. I found myself first and yeah, first, because I used to identify myself a lot with my profession. Before that, I was a video editor. And when somebody asked me, actually, I was once on a date with the guy, and then he asked me like, so what do you do know who are you?

00:07:19:20 - 00:07:49:04
Andreea
And I said, like, well, I'm Adria and I'm a video editor. And he's like, I don't care, what do you do for job? Who are you as a person? And that question like struck me. I was like, who am I? Am I, I don't know, who am I? I was I knew somehow inside about my desires, my burning curiosities, but I didn't know who I am and how I felt when I got there.

00:07:49:04 - 00:08:15:19
Andreea
And I said, I. I said, wow, this is the world that I was looking for. And I didn't know and I loved it so much. I got there, stayed for a month. I was so curious about every person that would come into the space. I would naturally dive deep into conversations with them, and I was just so intrigued to hear people stories.

00:08:15:21 - 00:08:45:23
Andreea
And this is how I actually emerged into a community builder, because online I'm a marketer, but offline I'm a community builder. And this is the job or the job, the role that came to me just because I was generally curious about people, I was engaging them in activities. I was like bringing them together. And I didn't end up leaving that place for, for after the month.

00:08:46:00 - 00:08:47:01
Ibi
How long did you stand?

00:08:47:01 - 00:08:50:13
Andreea
And I stayed five months until the Collegian closed.

00:08:50:15 - 00:08:51:14
Ibi
It's closed?

00:08:51:15 - 00:08:55:11
Andreea
Yeah, during winter. They closed it because of the weather.

00:08:55:12 - 00:08:55:23
Ibi
Yeah.

00:08:56:00 - 00:09:32:14
Andreea
But you know how I managed to convince myself and to convince the owners to stay longer? Tell me. So there is a autistic project called InsideOut. It's by a French guy, J.R., that he helps people to bring stories that they believe in or a cause that they believe in through photography. And you can photograph the local people and you submit this portraits to them, and then they print these portraits for you in a huge paper, like 1m or 70cm.

00:09:32:14 - 00:10:04:09
Andreea
And then you can paste them in the local area on the walls. And then this is how you bring awareness about the cause that you believe in. And the cause that I, I pitched was rural revival, how rural areas can really change the way we, we live, we are more connected with nature. The life is slow paced. You actually have time to connect with people, but also if you have the infrastructure fiber optic, you can also work.

00:10:04:10 - 00:10:24:18
Andreea
You really disconnection between rural and technology. So I started this project in my first month, but the portraits had to be shipped one month later, and I use this as an excuse like, hey, I cannot leave now. I have to wait for my project to be finished. And yeah.

00:10:24:20 - 00:10:28:17
Ibi
Sorry, gotta finish this project. Yeah, can I do.

00:10:28:19 - 00:10:30:07
Andreea
I loved it. Yeah.

00:10:30:08 - 00:11:08:22
Ibi
Wow. Okay. Interesting. Talk to me about your world. Like this world that you've described. The world that you found, the community element of that world. Now, the thing that I'm really thinking is, you know, like, as a worker, as a nomad, you see a different perspective than the perspective of someone who's building the community. Because in the one hand, you're the consumer of the community that's been built, the consumer of the world that's been created.

00:11:08:23 - 00:11:18:14
Ibi
You're not the builder of that world. So how does it feel from your perspective? Like, what is it? What are you building? How does it work?

00:11:18:16 - 00:11:40:20
Andreea
So it depends because there are two types of communities. It's like live communities in a living space and you approach that differently. I think it's much more organic to build in person, a community. It can really feel the vibe of the people. And then on the other hand, it's are the communities that you're building online, and that's a different thing.

00:11:40:20 - 00:12:02:09
Andreea
There are like separate things in different approaches to each. So yeah, for sale, I lived there for about two years and a half on and off the I lived for one year nonstop there. And.

00:12:02:11 - 00:12:15:06
Andreea
So what's so special about that community is that it's not just the community. They are immersed into the village, into the local area.

00:12:15:07 - 00:12:17:09
Ibi
How big is the village?

00:12:17:11 - 00:12:26:00
Andreea
Just 100 people. It's very, very tiny. And.

00:12:26:02 - 00:12:50:04
Andreea
So I think one thing that I really learned on how to build communities is that you really need to trust people and to believe that they can do it, they can handle it themselves. So as a community builder, you don't have to guide them through everything. So.

00:12:50:06 - 00:12:54:04
Andreea
Like there are so many directions I can talk about.

00:12:54:08 - 00:12:56:06
Ibi
We can do all of them.

00:12:56:08 - 00:13:07:16
Andreea
So I don't know, I should talk, so I should talk from my perspective or from.

00:13:07:18 - 00:13:41:02
Andreea
The whole, the community as a whole. Because since I was founded, since 2020 till now a days, the community took very many, many shapes. First year when I was there in 2021, the community was very much focused just inside because was still very fresh after the pandemic and we didn't know if the Covid, the virus is still existent and we wanted to protect the community, but then people were a little bit skeptical, like what's happening in this co-living?

00:13:41:07 - 00:14:09:23
Andreea
What's in there? Why are all these strangers coming in being such a tiny village? There are always cars coming and leaving. But then next year, the community expanded to the village, next year expanded to the village nearing. And then nowadays there are like in the whole Galicia. Really? Yes. Yeah. Because they've done so many projects. And that.

00:14:10:00 - 00:14:29:04
Andreea
So they opened the doors for people from the other villages to come and see. What are they doing there? Yeah. I don't know how to put this, this perspective of mine, but about community is that I feel.

00:14:29:06 - 00:15:02:14
Andreea
I feel like you can learn a lot. You can discover yourself. You're there to to trust in yourself more. You see other ways of living. So for example, one one thing that I really I grew up in such a conservative environment that I was afraid to talk openly what's going through my mind about any sorts of topics. And when you see other people talking with such ease about what they're thinking or what they're feeling, you catch courage to do it on your own and to speak up.

00:15:02:14 - 00:15:27:03
Andreea
So I feel like I could, through other people's stories, see what's inside me, and then I could bring it to the surface. And this is how I discovered that I'm not just Andrea at the video editor, but I'm Andrea that loves to do cookies and to the classes, and to play board games and to talk openly about the things that I feel.

00:15:27:03 - 00:15:43:10
Andreea
And, I feel like when you are surrounded by people, you feel less alone in what's going in your, in, in you, and you discover how multifaceted you are.

00:15:43:12 - 00:15:49:15
Ibi
And can you give an example of like.

00:15:49:17 - 00:15:56:04
Ibi
Maybe a time where someone said something that really the penny dropped or something that.

00:15:56:05 - 00:16:26:20
Andreea
Yeah, many moments like that, I was going through a tough moment. And one Khalifa from the community, she was a psychologist and I was crying. I was really, really sad. And then she took my hands and looked at me and she said, like, Andrea, what you feel is valid, it's real. Because I couldn't process what I'm thinking and what I'm feeling because I didn't allow it to to feel it first and to accept it.

00:16:26:20 - 00:16:57:07
Andreea
So then I can process it. And then by, just by someone telling me that, hey, it's valid what you're going through, I was able to accept it and then process it and then understanding it and then feel okay with it or not. So that was an moment that it's real because I grew up in such an environment where you have to shut up, you have to do not complain, you toughen up.

00:16:57:07 - 00:17:22:13
Andreea
I had like this walls on me, always looking over my shoulder and not telling what I'm truly going through. And I didn't know who I am. And because nobody ever accepted what I was, what I had to say. And then, yeah, that was like an epiphany moment for me when she said, like, hey, what you're feeling and what you're thinking, it's real.

00:17:22:13 - 00:17:29:22
Andreea
That is one moment. Another moment was we were we had this,

00:17:30:00 - 00:17:54:14
Andreea
Family dinner. And then before. No, before the dinner, we had an activity and we had to prepare this activity. There were some games. The game was like, you have to do all of these riddles in order to participate at the dinner. And then we were a group of five. Yeah, it was funny. We had for a while team dinners, and we left.

00:17:54:15 - 00:18:11:07
Andreea
We were five people cooking for that dinner, and then we left a guy to take care of the things in the kitchen, like the food in the oven or things on the stove. And then I was with this girl preparing the activities, and I was stressing so much about like, oh my God, is he going to forget about the potatoes in the oven?

00:18:11:08 - 00:18:30:12
Andreea
I was stressing so much and I couldn't enjoy at all. I was a control freak. I wanted to control everything. And in that moment, just like Andrea learned to let go, trust people that they can handle it. You don't have to be their mother. You don't have to.

00:18:30:14 - 00:18:53:08
Andreea
Control everything and show what they have to do. Just have faith in people and relax. And yeah, this is another thing that I learned to to to relax, to be more at ease. It's okay with who you are. It's okay to trust people. It's you're safe here. And yeah, I think this is the the thing that I learned most.

00:18:53:08 - 00:19:01:04
Andreea
That is okay. Who I am, and I'm safe. I don't always have to guard myself.

00:19:01:06 - 00:19:14:09
Ibi
Do you feel like it sounds like there's a lot of wisdom here, right? Do you feel like the wisdom or the.

00:19:14:11 - 00:19:26:02
Ibi
The ease of the words that you're hearing from these people? Do you think it comes from them as a person, or do you think it comes from the environment?

00:19:26:04 - 00:19:27:05
Andreea

00:19:27:07 - 00:19:54:02
Ibi
I don't know how to structure this question, but I mean, someone says something profound to you. Is it because they themselves have worked it out and they are passing that on, or is it the entirety of the situation that makes it profound? And they're just words that that person have said?

00:19:54:04 - 00:20:29:01
Andreea
I think it'll be both at the same time. I feel that usually people that are coming in collecting spaces, they have gone through so many chapters themselves, and you gathered some sort of life wisdom or life experiences that made you to be more at ease or to understand how the world works. But at the same time, I feel like when you are in a in a group, in a community, everyone is so supportive and open to hear what the other has to say.

00:20:29:01 - 00:20:58:02
Andreea
And then when, for example, I share something, maybe I'm a bit shy and but I dare to speak up and then someone encourages me or adds up or compliments my story. Then I feel that I could go inside even deeper and give understanding to the things that I'm thinking, in a way that I never done before. Like I didn't knew that I could.

00:20:58:04 - 00:21:14:02
Andreea
I feel this way where I think this way and I yeah, I think, I think it's it's a supportive group. The group is supportive. That allows you to to, I don't know, talk profoundly about different things. Yeah.

00:21:14:03 - 00:21:37:22
Ibi
But why is that. Why is it. Is it because the. Is it because the nature of being. I'm not asking you the question. I'm just exploring. Is it is it because the nature of the group is that they're all trying to be supportive with each other, and therefore they create an environment of support?

00:21:38:00 - 00:21:47:21
Andreea
I think because everyone is is curious, it's it's curious to see.

00:21:47:23 - 00:22:14:19
Andreea
I think, I think is the main driver themselves to have gotten to this place, to want to be in community, to want to experience a living space. They have some degree of curiosity of or thirst about other people. And. I think this, this is the reason that everyone knows that we all have some stories in the background.

00:22:14:23 - 00:22:26:17
Andreea
We are complex beings. We are not just like just one identity. And then we are just curious.

00:22:26:19 - 00:22:37:04
Ibi
You know, what's interesting is if someone is happy and they share their happiness with someone else, the happiness increases.

00:22:37:06 - 00:22:39:08
Andreea
And a sadness is heaven.

00:22:39:10 - 00:22:56:04
Ibi
Yeah. So I'm wondering and it applies to other emotions as well, I guess. But I'm wondering if the same is true for curiosity where when one person is curious and they share the curiosity with someone else, the curiosity increases. Overall.

00:22:56:05 - 00:23:22:05
Andreea
Definitely. I can talk for myself, but when I hear someone talking with passion about a certain topic, I get curious as well. Like, why do you think this way? How does this work? How did you find out about. This thing? Yeah, I think so too, that we when?

00:23:22:07 - 00:23:31:10
Andreea
You are curious about a thing I think means that you're passionate about it and then passion is infectious.

00:23:31:12 - 00:23:40:13
Andreea
Wow. Oh my God, this podcast went so not in the direction I thought. So. Too deep. So fast.

00:23:40:15 - 00:23:41:22

Yeah. I mean.

00:23:41:23 - 00:24:04:01
Ibi
We're just just talking, so. Okay, let's bring it back. So what do you do? What do you do for work? Five years. You were your travel. You were on your travels. Five years you were on the road two and a half years you were in. And so what about the other two and a half years? And what are you doing now?

00:24:04:03 - 00:24:34:18
Andreea
So right now I can say that I'm so happy with my career. Took me such a long time to get to where I am. You, you. And it was all thanks through to college, because through college I found all of these people, all of these opportunities and what I'm actually doing right now. I work as a marketing marketing manager for a residential space in Belgium, and it's really, really, really cool what they're doing.

00:24:34:19 - 00:25:06:00
Andreea
They are buying old, heritage rich townhouses that have been built in the 19th century, and they restored them and then transformed them in shared living. It's really, really good. It's like, okay, this is a castle. It's what they do. They don't restore castles, but townhouses, which some of them, they look like castles. And not everybody has a chance to live in this whole town houses anymore.

00:25:06:01 - 00:25:40:15
Andreea
Like, we are very privileged to have the chance to live in this castle. And that's why I'm really, really happy that I work for this company. I think it's really cool what they're doing, and I found this opportunity through college, and I think this is something I want to let people know that you, once you go in co-living and you expose yourself, you get to enrich your perspectives and your network so much, your friends.

00:25:40:17 - 00:26:06:08
Andreea
So yeah, you need to expose yourself, I think. And livings are a really great place. And what I've been doing well in my travel since I started traveling. I also found my partner, which I'm really lucky that we found each other because relationships or to having a partner in my life was important.

00:26:06:08 - 00:26:10:10
Ibi
And it's difficult when you're traveling.

00:26:10:12 - 00:26:41:20
Andreea
Yes, yes, but what helped me was that I had no ties to Romania. Like I didn't had to go back. I was completely free. And this freedom actually allow me to create the life that I want. Because at a point, yeah, we had to move in together. But somehow our plans aligned because he also has his freedom of being a remote worker.

00:26:41:20 - 00:27:15:08
Andreea
So, yeah, for one year we had a long distance relationship until we realized that the distance has a toll on us, takes a toll on us, and we decided to move in together. And if for one year we were traveling from two points to meet in one point when we came together, we both traveled in those places together and it's so much better and nice and easier because when there are two brains, everything is just so much easier.

00:27:15:10 - 00:27:46:18
Andreea
And yeah, I mean, in these five years I've been in 15 co-living or more. That's a lot. That's a lot. Yeah. And I have a pretty good understanding on how different colleges work. Or if someone wants to know more about co-living, I can help them to make the best decision for them. Because yeah, I gather this broad knowledge about a lot of things.

00:27:46:19 - 00:28:18:09
Andreea
And yeah, this is what I do when I where when I'm not a volunteer in a living place. I work for my client in Belgium and also I am a creator. I always create things. For example, what I'm working on right now is a community for community builders to pass on the learnings that I've gathered from these experiences and to encourage them to travel as well.

00:28:18:09 - 00:28:23:10
Andreea
And colleagues. And yeah, this is what I do.

00:28:23:12 - 00:28:40:02
Ibi
So that community builders can so that those people who are also looking for that perspective and they also want to travel, they can also find a way to also build that community and is like, what does it mean that these community builders.

00:28:40:03 - 00:29:09:18
Andreea
So there are people that in their place. For example, in Romania, I know a couple of women that themselves, creator communities around different topics such as entrepreneurship or marketing or yoga or. Yeah, and then they can create communities, but they would also love to travel, but they don't know where to plug themselves in and then away. You can do that.

00:29:09:18 - 00:29:37:05
Andreea
It's true co-living, because a lot of these places, they are looking for volunteers, for community builders. And then what I do in one hand is to show this community builders or aspiring community builders how to discover these places, like what it means to be a community builder, what kind of community builder you want to be where you can go.

00:29:37:07 - 00:29:55:19
Andreea
I also have a directory of different opportunities that you just can access and look at and apply. And on the other hand, co-living operators like Katya for example, or has if they look for community builders, they can find it in my community. So it's to bridge these two worlds.

00:29:55:21 - 00:30:18:20
Ibi
I understand the benefit to the co-living of having the community builder, but from the community builder themselves, from their perspective, they're just volunteering, right? So they're not making money. Oh, how are they?

00:30:18:22 - 00:30:24:19
Andreea
Depends. There are different opportunities. Paid volunteered. Yeah.

00:30:24:21 - 00:30:26:17
Ibi
What's the benefit to the person?

00:30:26:18 - 00:30:28:00

Oh my God.

00:30:28:01 - 00:30:52:18
Andreea
It's such a great question. I can talk from my experience by being in a community, by volunteering. I grew so much as a person because I truly believe that a living space is like a personal development bootcamp. You learn so many things from other people from. There are many things happening all day long. I feel like the life is so compressed here.

00:30:52:18 - 00:31:23:08
Andreea
You will never be able to experience that in a city. So you learn a lot, you grow a lot, and I feel that you have so many chances to fail in a living space, like because we tend. Okay, I talk about myself, but I tended to be this perfect girl that doesn't make mistakes, that everything is correct. And in co-living spaces, especially as a volunteer, especially as a community builder, I felt so many times.

00:31:23:08 - 00:31:44:10
Andreea
For example, I probably lost my temper once in a stressful situation or a meal that I had to cook for. The people didn't go as planned. I tried to organize an activity and no one showed up or I don't know, so many things and.

00:31:44:12 - 00:32:15:00
Andreea
I think this is the most important thing when you are volunteering yourself with your time, with your skills, you have this observer. Yeah, observer. Look on what's happening. So I think you become very aware of your impact in a community, the impact of other people, because you you are not in it. You are a little bit outside and have this overview look.

00:32:15:00 - 00:32:39:09
Andreea
And if you become very attentive, you you learn how to listen. You're very sensitive at perceiving emotions or how people are feeling. So, yeah, yeah, I think you just become a more aware person. That would be as a benefit. So it's personal.

00:32:39:10 - 00:32:40:12
Ibi
Personal development.

00:32:40:13 - 00:33:05:05
Andreea
Personal development. Another benefit would be that you just make a lot of friends right now. I have so many friends all around the world that if I were to go right now, I don't know. From here, from Normandy to Spain, if I take the car for sure, I'll have have at least 2 or 3 friends I can stop by and yeah, to to meet.

00:33:05:07 - 00:33:32:13
Andreea
So you grow your friendships a lot. And then of course, more materialistic benefits. Yeah. I don't pay rent. For many years I struggled financially. And when I discovered that I can, you know, I really didn't want to go back to an office. I really wanted this freedom. But at the same time, you need money to maintain this freedom.

00:33:32:13 - 00:33:59:15
Andreea
And then when, when, when I discovered that, you know, I can actually leave and fulfill this curiosity of mine just by volunteering, and I don't have to pay for rent, it's. That is the material part of it. Yeah. Because you can save up those money that you don't pay for it. Rent. And. Yeah, these are most important benefits that come through to my mind right now.

00:33:59:17 - 00:34:07:15
Ibi
Last question. Because we're almost at time the.

00:34:07:17 - 00:34:30:03
Ibi
When you're volunteering, when you're doing these things, you're building this community. You're you're developing, you're growing, you're making friends, you're living a good life. Do you have time and capacity for your personal career development?

00:34:30:04 - 00:34:34:19
Andreea
Oh, very good question.

00:34:34:21 - 00:34:58:00
Andreea
Not really. If you want to take it seriously, like how do it right now with my job right now, you can do both. Because being a volunteer as a community builder, even though it's part time, actually in reality, it's a full time job because of the mental space that occupies you being such a present person in a in a space.

00:34:58:01 - 00:35:27:12
Andreea
So you cannot really have time to develop a career. And after volunteering for two years and a half, almost three years, I decided that it's time for me to put stop right now. I think I gathered all of the things that I wanted to. Also, I wanted to have time to process the personal, the insights that I, that I got.

00:35:27:14 - 00:35:48:12
Andreea
And yeah, I started volunteering so then I could focus more on my career, but I was able to choose and to have a career that I'm really passionate about because I volunteered and I discovered all of these ways of working or people that I can connect with or work for. But I don't think you can do both.

00:35:48:13 - 00:36:09:01
Andreea
I feel like if you are in a, or if you have like a part time job that you are not very involved in, but when I, when I do things, I am very much involved, I cannot I am with my mind and my soul into something. I know people that are treating the job just as the job and that's it.

00:36:09:01 - 00:36:20:21
Andreea
This can disconnect. They have like clear boundaries. But no, I when I do something, I'm full in and for me it was too much. So yeah.

00:36:20:23 - 00:36:26:07
Ibi
Okay, I know I said it was the final question, but I have one more.

00:36:26:09 - 00:36:32:06
Ibi
The question is.

00:36:32:08 - 00:36:38:11
Ibi
Okay, so you don't know much about me. I guess maybe you do. Maybe you don't.

00:36:38:13 - 00:36:47:09
Andreea
I know that you are the supreme leader in likes fake.

00:36:47:11 - 00:37:11:07
Ibi
Okay, so the question is. Would you recommend volunteering and being a community builder to someone like me to quantify that? I mean, does it only apply?

00:37:11:09 - 00:37:27:23
Ibi
In does the community Builder element apply to people who are starting their careers or starting their journeys, and they want a bit more?

00:37:28:00 - 00:37:54:11
Ibi
They want some space and time for development before they do that or in the early stages of that. Or would you also recommend it for people who have reached certain places in their career journey? Let's say they are a fully qualified accountant and they have they make their 100 K year in accountancy, and they have a good job or whatever, and they will find.

00:37:54:12 - 00:38:06:08
Ibi
Would you also recommend it for that kind of person? And so the question is would you recommend it for me? But I guess the real question is would you recommend it for that kind of person?

00:38:06:10 - 00:38:35:03
Andreea
I don't think I can say that just a certain type of person can do it, or on their career stage. Not at all. It more depends on, your values. Like what do you what do you want? What do you need? What do you love? And if you if you have this genuine care and passion for, you know one thing, people to have a good time.

00:38:35:05 - 00:39:08:03
Andreea
You have a nurturing vibe like you really. You know, you care. You care about people to make sure that they, feel good about their experience than anyone at any stage, at any age can do that. Can be for fun, can be. I just want to try this to see how this goes for me. Can I, can you take it can take it as a challenge upon yourself, like can I?

00:39:08:05 - 00:39:27:05
Andreea
Can I switch my brain on to other people? Like to be present and aware what's happening in the community? 24 seven can I do that? So yeah, I don't think if it's doesn't matter where you are in your career.

00:39:27:07 - 00:39:41:11
Ibi
Fair fair enough. Look, we're at time actually, we're super over time, but wow. That's okay. Thank you. Thank you I really appreciate that. And it was a lot of fun to talk to you and yeah good luck.

00:39:41:13 - 00:39:47:07
Andreea
Thank you so much for giving me the chance to dive so deep into this topic.

00:39:47:13 - 00:39:48:02

How did.